Portland police dismantle 'Occupy' camps after confrontation

Police officers arrests protesters in the Portland encampment, Nov. 13, in, Portland, Ore. In a tense escalation of the Occupy Portland protest, police in riot gear Sunday surrounded demonstrators in a downtown park area after hundreds of people defied the mayor's order to leave the park by midnight.

Natalie Behring / Getty Images

Protesters sit in the middle of a road in defiance of police instructions near the Occupy Portland encampment Nov. 13, in Portland, Ore. Portland police have reclaimed the two parks in which occupiers have been camping after a night of brinksmanship with protesting crowds of several thousands.

According to msnbc.com staff and news service reports:

Police numbers shifted throughout the night, but they showed no signs of moving against the protesters.

Around 4 a.m. a line of about 200 police stretched across a street and in front of a federal courthouse.

Protesters put up barricades of pallets, couches and chairs at Southwest Main Street, but they were taken down as the crowd retook the parks.

When crowds thinned, police moved in.

The mood at the parks on Sunday was "peaceful and respectful" after some raucous marching overnight, said City Council member Nick Fish.